Media views on the Spurs, Tim Duncan and Paul Pressey

The media in Utah got their first up-close view of the Spurs on Monday’ in the Spurs’ victory over the Utah Jazz. The reviews included admiration for the Spurs in general and Tim Duncan in particular.

From Tim Buckley of the Deseret Morning News: They are the defending NBA champs. They have beaten the Jazz 20 times now in their last 22 meetings. And, especially late in games, they play the way Utah can hope it some day will.

From Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune: On a night when the Jazz officially announced plans to retire Karl Malone’s jersey, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan delivered like a Mailman.

And more takes from the national media:

From David DuPree of USA TODAY: It isn’t going to be easy for the Spurs to repeat as NBA champions. But given the choice between that, Steve Nash being the league’s MVP again, the Detroit Pistons winning at least 70 games or Kobe Bryant topping his 81-point performance, I have to go with the Spurs successfully defending their NBA title as the most likely of the four to occur.

From former Spurs guard Steve Kerr writing for Yahoo! Sports: Manu Ginobili is back. The Spurs are a totally different team when he’s on the floor. See Kerr’s NBA rankings.

Tim Legler of ESPN says he Spurs top the list of locks to make the playoffs in the Western Conference. “They are still the cream of the crop in the West despite not firing on all cylinders.”

From Scott Souza of the Boston Daily News: The day Paul Pressey broke the news to his four children, the response was split right along the gender and age gap. After six years as an assistant coach for the Spurs, the former NBA star held a family meeting in 2000 and told the kids they were headed to Florida, where their dad was joining Doc Rivers’ staff with the Orlando Magic.